Is Selling Your Name The Same As Selling Your Identity?

What does it say about a person, when they are willing to sell even their last name for profit?

It was Shakespeare who wrote, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”. Basically asserting that the name we give someone or something means little in the grand scheme of things, right? But if that were the case why would companies be vying to outbid one another for the chance to have one man carry their company name as his own for an entire year? Well that is exactly what 30- year old Jason Sadler of Jacksonville, FL, is doing CNN Money reports.

He is holding an online auction and will legally change his last name to the name of any company that makes the highest bid.

Sadler will adopt that company’s name for all of 2013, starting on Jan. 1. He’ll use the money he raises to invest in his startup.

With more and more women choosing not to take their husbands’ last names, and the importance society places on a person’s name as a part of their identity, some might think it’s just a gimmick. But for Mr. Sadler, whose other business is wearing t-shirts promoting any company willing to pay him, there seems to be no identity crisis. He is quoted as saying,

Some folks say that I’m selling out. Look, I’ve sold the shirt off my back, literally. So this won’t affect my life at all.

Confident words from a man whose last name is up for grabs. This could be a brilliant marketing strategy, or a ridiculous gimmick but only time will tell. Or is it possible that the success myth is so deeply ingrained in men that they would be willing to sell their identity to attain it?

This could be a brilliant marketing strategy, or a ridiculous gimmick but only time will tell.

Well it’s both Ridiculous and Brilliant – he just used something that does not actually exist to get the world talking about him, his start up, his ideas, his way of thinking. Ridiculous + Brilliant – could it equal Genius?

I wonder what his marketing budget was – cos if he can get returns like this for a few cents I’d like to talk business with him, and see where else his vision and imagination goes.